Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin speaks to reporters before today’s meeting of the U.N. Security Council. The world powers have been debating a set of sanctions to be imposed on North Korea following its reported nuclear test (Stan Honda/Getty Images). North Korean Test Possibly a Partial Nuclear Explosion U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that the North Korean nuclear weapon detonated Monday failed to completely explode, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Oct. 12). “The working assumption is that what happened, more likely than not, was an attempted nuclear test that fell far short of being successful,” said one U.S. official. There has been no detection yet of radioactive material that would prove Pyongyang’s claim of conducting a successful nuclear test...Full Story

Iran Resists U.N. Pressure, Sustains Nuclear Program Iranian leaders this week reaffirmed their intention to maintain the nation’s uranium enrichment program, while leading U.N. Security Council countries discussed how to handle the nuclear crisis, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Oct. 12)...Full Story

British Man Pleads Guilty in Terror Plot A British man pleaded guilty yesterday in London to conspiring to carry out a widespread terror plot that is believed to have involved a planned radiological attack in the United Kingdom and bombings of the New York Stock Exchange, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GcSN, April 13, 2005)...Full Story

	Friday, October 13, 2006

British Man Pleads Guilty in Terror Plot A British man pleaded guilty yesterday in London to conspiring to carry out a widespread terror plot that is believed to have involved a planned radiological attack in the United Kingdom and bombings of the New York Stock Exchange, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GcSN, April 13, 2005). Dhiren Barot, 34, was charged with murder conspiracy.  He acknowledged his role in both parts of the foiled terror plot. British authorities arrested Barot and seven other men in 2004.  They were suspected of planning to bomb the Stock Exchange and Citigroup buildings in New York, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank buildings in Washington, D.C., and the Prudential building in Newark, N.J. The suspects plotted “to carry out explosions at those premises with no warning.  They were basically designed to kill as many innocent people as possible,” said prosecutor Edmund Lawson. Along with plans to detonate a radiological “dirty bomb” in London, investigators said the suspects sought to explode three limousines carrying explosives and gas cylinders in underground parking lots. The plans are believed to have been in the early stages when the suspects were arrested. A sentencing date has not been scheduled for Barot.  The other seven defendants are scheduled for trial in 2007, the Times reported. Charges have also been filed in the United States against Barot and two other defendants.  Prosecutors here do not plan to move forward with the charges before the British case ends (Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 13). Back to top       Bush Signs Port Security Measure U.S. President George W. Bush signed a port security bill today in a White House ceremony, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 2). “We’re going to protect our ports.  We’re going to defend this homeland, and we’re going to win this war on terror,” Bush said. The bill, approved by Congress two weeks ago, includes $400 million for improving training and security measures at U.S. ports and requires the nation’s 22 largest ports to install radiation detectors by the end of 2007.  Those ports handle 98 percent of cargo entering the country, AP reported. Bush praised the bill for cutting down on opportunities for terrorists to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the United States. The bill also gives greater authority to the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (Jennifer Loven, Associated Press/Baltimore Sun, Oct. 13). Back to top

South Korea Might Consider Joining PSI South Korea will probably face more pressure to join a U.S.-led nonproliferation effort after North Korea reportedly conducted a nuclear test this week, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Sept. 27). Fearing a combative reaction from Pyongyang, Seoul has so far remained only an observer to the Proliferation Security Initiative, a program to monitor and intercept WMD cargo at sea, according to AFP. “We oppose the PSI because even a trivial clash on the sea could develop into a full-scale military conflict,” said South Korean ruling party chairman Kim Geun-tae. The latest escalation in the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear crisis, however, could force Seoul to reconsider, some officials said. “South Korea will have to expand its role in the PSI under the new situation,” said a Foreign Ministry official. Until then, the existing policy would remain, a top official said yesterday. “There’s a possible conflict if our troops capture a North Korean vessel,” Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said in a speech to parliament.  “North Korea may react angrily to our full participation in PSI.  Limited participation in PSI is our current position” (Frank Zeller, Agence France-Presse, Oct. 13). Back to top

North Korean Test Possibly a Partial Nuclear Explosion U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that the North Korean nuclear weapon detonated Monday failed to completely explode, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Oct. 12). “The working assumption is that what happened, more likely than not, was an attempted nuclear test that fell far short of being successful,” said one U.S. official. There has been no detection yet of radioactive material that would prove Pyongyang’s claim of conducting a successful nuclear test. The size of the blast has been assessed by the most recent intelligence estimates to be 0.2 kilotons.  A plutonium bomb, which Pyongyang is believed to have used, would be expected to produce a blast of five to 20 kilotons. Conventional high explosives meant to compress the plutonium to begin the nuclear explosion are likely to have caused the blast detected Monday, one official said.  “There was a yield that was in the several hundred ton range, but it at least partially failed,” another official told the Times. The underground cavern used in the test might also have muffled seismic waves from a full but small nuclear explosion, according to an alternate theory.  Another explanation is that the test was simply a bluff involving conventional explosives. It could take weeks to fully analyze data collected after the test, officials said. “It is not yet determined — with any degree of assurance — what exactly they tested,” said Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Oct. 13). South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung warned today that Pyongyang might be working on nuclear warheads that could fit on to missiles, the Associated Press reported. “The South Korean government believes North Korea has been developing low-grade nuclear bombs, and they may be moving to develop (nuclear weapons) small enough to out on guided missiles as the next stage,” he told lawmakers (Associated Press I, Oct. 13). A North Korean defector said yesterday his former nation has a number of nuclear weapons that could be deployed in the event of war, Agence France-Presse reported. Pyongyang reached a deal in 1996 with Pakistan for transfer of uranium-based nuclear technology, said Hwang Jang Yop, a former secretary for the ruling Workers Party of Korea. “North Korea reprocessed half of its 1,800 fuel rods in 1993,” he said (Agence France-Presse I/Gulf Times, Oct. 12). U.N. diplomats yesterday moved closer to reaching agreement on sanctions to be imposed on North Korea in response to the nuclear test, AP reported. “We have made very substantial progress,” said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.  The ambassadors from China and Russia agreed. Washington hoped to see the resolution approved today. Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said yesterday a vote on the document should not occur until after senior Russian and Chinese officials meet today and tomorrow in Moscow, the Washington Post reported (Colum Lynch, Washington Post, Oct. 13). The United States agreed to eliminate language in the resolution that would leave the door open for use of military force against Pyongyang, AP reported.  Such action or other additional measures would require a new U.N. Security Council resolution. A U.S. draft circulated last night also revised what had been a blanket arms embargo on North Korea.  The new embargo includes a specific list of weapons, including missiles, tanks, warships and combat aircraft. The draft states that the Security Council would take action under Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which allows for use of military force, but would only use measures from Article 41, which does not. It maintains a ban on sale or shipping of luxury items to North Korea, along with material that could be used to produce weapons of mass destruction.  The resolution demand’s Pyongyang’s immediate return to six-party talks on its nuclear program and that it refrain from further missile or nuclear tests. The presidents of China and South Korea met yesterday in Beijing to discuss the resolution.  They agreed to “support appropriate sanctions that are necessary for realizing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” said South Korean security adviser Song Ming-soon. President George W. Bush and other senior White House officials met yesterday with a senior Chinese representative, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, AP reported (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Oct. 13). Japan today moved ahead with unilateral sanctions against North Korea, AFP reported.  As of midnight today, North Korean imports and ships are barred from Japan, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Tasuhisa Shiozaki. He expressed no concern over Pyongyang’s threat to take “strong countermeasures” in response to Japanese sanctions. “The government is responsible for protecting the country and its people,” he said.  “We are taking appropriate measures, as we usually do” (Harumi Ozawa, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Oct. 13). Pace said yesterday the United States has the available military force to go to war against North Korea if needed, the Los Angeles Times reported. Roughly 200,000 troops are now in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said.  That leaves another 2 million that could be called to war in Asia. Due to the number of ground forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, a new war would significantly involve the Navy and Air Force, he said.  He noted that guidance systems used to aim bombs are also committed in the Middle East. “You wouldn’t have the precision in combat going to a second theater that you would if you were only going to the first theater of war,” Pace said.  “You end up dropping more bombs potentially to get the job done, and it would mean more brute force” (Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 13). New equipment and increased global collaboration would be necessary to fulfill Bush’s pledge to make Pyongyang “fully accountable” for any transfers of nuclear material, the New York Times reported. Three present efforts are models for a future system to control such nuclear smuggling, said Robert Joseph, undersecretary for arms control and international security.  They are the Proliferation Security Initiative (see GSN, Sept. 27), Megaports Initiative (see GSN, July 10), and the Second Line of Defense (see GSN, May 25). “We are putting in place the ability to detect, disrupt and deter North Korean proliferation activities,” Joseph said.  “The announced North Korean nuclear test will provide impetus to further expand these capabilities, particularly in Asia.” A team of nuclear experts at the U.S. Defense Department could analyze fallout from acts of nuclear terrorism to determine the source of the atomic material, the Times reported.  The International Atomic Energy Agency also has records from North Korea, collected before the agency was expelled from the nation, which could indicate if Pyongyang provided material for a bomb intercepted in transfer or used in an attack. Administration officials declined to discuss in detail what Bush meant by “fully accountable.” “These declarations are constructed with some elasticity, specifically to raise questions and doubts in the mind of the object,” said one official (Shanker/Sanger, New York Times, Oct. 13). Back to top       Iran Resists U.N. Pressure, Sustains Nuclear Program Iranian leaders this week reaffirmed their intention to maintain the nation’s uranium enrichment program, while leading U.N. Security Council countries discussed how to handle the nuclear crisis, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Oct. 12). Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said the enrichment activities were peaceful and would continue.  Iran had suspended the program earlier without seeing any diplomatic benefit, so the nation will not freeze it now, he said. “If we had not experienced that path, perhaps we would have criticized ourselves today,” he said in a speech Tuesday.  “But now, we will pursue with a strong heart.” Similarly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would press forward. The nation would “continue its path of dignity based on resistance, wisdom and without fear,” he said Tuesday. Citizens’ Views Iranian citizens hold mixed views about the wisdom of continuing the nation’s nuclear program, the Times reported today.   Some backed the program strongly. “A country that has nuclear bombs has no right to tell other countries that they should not have one,” said retired school teacher Javad Tabatabai.  “We are a superpower in the region, and no one will dare to stop our program.” Others opposed the nuclear efforts. “People are hungry,” said 33-year-old mechanic Armin Manouchehri.  “Why do we need a nuclear program when the government is not capable of controlling [double-digit] inflation?” (Nazila Fathi, New York Times, Oct. 13). Back to top       Indian Leader Discusses U.S. Nuclear Deal with EU Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh traveled to Finland this week to seek support from the European Union for New Delhi’s nuclear deal with the United States, the Press Trust of India reported (see GSN, Oct. 2). The European Union has not decided yet whether to support the plan, in which India would open its civilian nuclear facilities to international monitoring in exchange for access to U.S. nuclear material and technology. “We don’t yet have EU’s position on the U.S.-India nuclear cooperation,” Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the rotating EU chairmanship, said yesterday at a press conference with Singh.  “We are trying to get EU’s position.” Vanhanen said he understood India’s growing need for energy that could be produced by nuclear plants. “Every country has the right to decide which kind of energy to use,” he said.  “I hope India could take part in all those international agreements which we have in the field of nuclear energy” (Press Trust of India/BBC Monitoring, Oct. 12). Back to top       South Africa to Chair Nuclear Suppliers Group South Africa will chair the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2007-2008, the Foreign Ministry announced yesterday (see GSN, May 25). The 45-nation group sets guidelines for international nuclear trade with the goal of preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapon technology (South African Press Association/Mail and Guardian, Oct. 12). South Africa has expressed support for the pending U.S.-Indian nuclear trade deal, an arrangement that would require the group to either exempt New Delhi from the group’s nonproliferation guidelines or ease the guidelines altogether (see GSN, Sept. 15; Greg Webb, GSN, Oct. 13). Back to top

U.S. Army Moves Ahead with New Biodefense Facility Construction is expected to begin next year on a new facility at Fort Detrick, Md., for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Inside the Pentagon reported (see GSN, July 31). The institute, which researches countermeasures against biological agents that might be used against the military or civilians, operates from a decades-old facility designed to hold 325 employees.  It now has 750 people assigned to the space. The new facility would have space for 1,000 to 1,400 staff members, according to USAMRIID spokeswoman Caree Vander Linden.  It would contain space for laboratory work at Biosafety Levels 2, 3 and 4.  Work on the most infectious disease agents is conducted at Biosafety Level 4 laboratories. The $1 billion site would provide the institute with additional capability for testing biological agents in aerosolized form to prepare defenses against the potential bioterrorism threat. Work is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2007; the first stage would be completed in five years and the second stage in four, according to Inside the Pentagon.  Funding for the first stage was included in the fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill, while the second stage has yet to be approved, Vander Linden said. Construction began in June at Fort Detrick for the Homeland Security Department’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center.  The facility is due to be completed in two years, and would house a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory and the agency’s Biological Threat Characterization Center and the National Bioforensic Analysis Center. The USAMRIID and Homeland Security facilities ultimately would join with an Agriculture Department research unit and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as a multidepartment biodefense campus. Such a site would promote collaboration against biological terrorism, according to defense officials (Daniel Wasserbly, Inside the Pentagon, Oct. 12). Back to top       Senate to Consider Bioterror Countermeasure Bill A bill intended to support the development of drugs and vaccines to combat bioterrorism has been passed by the U.S. House and could be considered by the Senate next month, Copley News reported today (see GSN, Mar. 31). The measure would create the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to try to fill a funding gap in federal efforts to encourage private companies to develop bioterror countermeasures. The biotechnology industry has been frustrated by the earlier government efforts, in particular the Project Bioshield initiative to purchase vaccines after they have been produced.  However, that program does not support development efforts, industry officials said (see GSN, Sept. 29). “Currently, many promising countermeasures are not making it through the advance research and development necessary to bring products to the point of eligibility for procurement by the landmark Project Bioshield,” said Jim Greenwood, leader of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. The bill under consideration in the Senate, sponsored by Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), would transfer $1 billion of Bioshield funds to BARDA to support development activities. While generally praising the legislative effort, some industry officials are concerned that the new bill might not meet its goals. “There’s fear that we could see the same problems as we did with Project Bioshield:  It won’t be implemented the way it is supposed to be,” said biotechnology lobbyist Frank Rapoport (Terri Somers, Copley News Service, Oct. 13). Back to top

U.S. Army Finishes Binary Chemical Treatment The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency announced yesterday that it has completed neutralizing binary chemicals that could have been used to produce deadly agents (see GSN, June 9). The agency’s Nonstockpile Chemical Materiel Project and a contractor since December 2005 had been treating the chemical precursors QL and DF at the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas. Binary munitions were designed to combine two nonlethal chemicals to form a weapons agent during delivery by aircraft.  The U.S. military produced one type of binary munition, which was never used. QL would have been combined with another chemical to form VX nerve agent.  DF would have formed sarin nerve agent when mixed with another chemical. Treated material will be shipped to a commercial facility in Texas for destruction by December 2007, according to an Army press release. The facility used to destroy the binary chemicals sits within the only Integrated Binary Production Facilities building that has yet to be demolished at Pine Bluff.  Demolition preparations are now under way.  By destroying the final building, the United States would meet its obligation under the Chemical Weapons Convention to eliminate all former chemical weapons production sites (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, Oct. 12).   Back to top

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